The three generations of the genetically identical cows - the original animal and the two clones - are being studied at the institute in southern Japan.

In the calf recloning, skin tissue from the ear of the first-generation cloned cow were taken last April when it was 4 months old. Those cells were fused with an unfertilized egg that had been stripped of its nucleus. That was then placed in the womb of a host female cow, which led to the birth of a 97-pound male calf. A second recloned cow produced by the institute is expected to be born in late March.

Mice have been successfully recloned in the United States, but the Japanese researchers said no larger animals had not previously been recloned.

ENVIRONMENT

Women reach South Pole

LONDON - Five female explorers became the first British women to reach the South Pole unaided and unguided after trekking 695 miles across Antarctica.

Caroline Hamilton, Ann Daniels, Pom Oliver, Zoe Hudson, and Rosie Stancer-Clayton - great niece of the queen mother - comprised the group. They were all members of a relay expedition that had completed a trek to the North Pole in May 1997. The group began its journey to the South Pole Nov. 24, 1999 after spending 18 months training in Norway. Each day the explorers ate some 6,000 calories and drank 10 pints of liquid to combat dehydration.

On their trek, the women collected meteorological data on ice conditions, as well as physiological and psychological data on how they reacted to the harsh conditions.